Balance the Fundamental Verity

ake its exact predictions," says Spencer (First Principles, p. 193). As astronomy discerns the operation of the laws of balance in the remotest regions accessible to human vision, and in the most tremendous phenomena, so chemistry discovers the same accurate adjustments among the smallest particles of matter of which we have any knowledge. Lavoisier is called the founder of modern chemistry. That which distinguishes his work from the work of his predecessors is the more accurate measurement of the materials and forces which are involved in chemical changes, and a more orderly view of these phenomena as perfectly balanced interactions. His work destroyed the theory of " phlogiston," which was inconsistent with natural balance because it introduced a mystic agent ? " phlogiston, the spirit of fire " ? having unnatural properties contradictory of the law of action and reaction. The problem of oxidation puzzled chemists in Lavoisier's day. The rapid action of fire and the slow rusting of a metal were seen to be closely akin, but the cause was elusive. It was necessary to learn that the essential of both processes is oxygen, coming from the air or some other source; and that there is no actual loss or gain in the process of oxidation. This truth led to the broader knowledge that, in every chemical transformation, whatever disappears in one form, reappears in another;that every manifestation of force is due to a disturbance of balance among the minute, invisible p... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.